The creation of high-quality imagery is core to what we do at Ethical Creatives and with more than 20 billion searches each month going through Google Lens (one of many visual search tools available) it is clear this is a game-changer for online shopping and brand awareness.
Whilst text searches are just as relevant, the emergence of Image Search Optimisation (ISO) means the quality of visual content is becoming more important than ever to the success of your website.
Here are our Top 5 tips on how to position and improve your content for optimal Image Search Optimisation:
1. Use your own Images
As tempting as stock photography is, it is always better in the long-run to create your own images which will serve better for Image Search Optimisation as other websites may be using the same stock image. Make sure these are simple, relevant to the product or topic on the page, good quality and well lit shots even if they are shot using a mobile device.
2. Think about Image Sizing
Website speed is paramount if you want to perform well in the eyes of Google. Large images that are slow to load will negatively impact Search Engine (SEO) and Image Search Optimisation (ISO). To optimise, use compression tools such as CompressJPEG or CompressPNG and remember a maximum of 2500 pixels is optimal for a website.
3. Use high-resolution Images
Remember to balance quality with download speed but opt for PNG or JPG formats that will maintain image quality. Shooting images on a good quality camera will also help.
4. Think about Image data
Don’t forget to modify the all-important data that sits behind each image: use descriptive language, edit filenames to reflect what the image contains (or mirrors the page subject) and don’t forget to modify the image ALT tag with a description of the image (using keywords if possible) rather than the filename generated by the camera. Google will be using this information to determine whether the image should be used in results from a search query.
5. Check existing images on your website
Look through your website and check your existing images. Are there any that could be improved? Think about how products or people are positioned within the frame using the rule of thirds - have you cropped the image correctly? Are there any blurry or low quality images? Are there any uncompressed images that have yet to be optimised for fast-loading?
We hope you have found this short guide useful and remember Image Search Optimisation is an on-going process of incremental improvements just as it is with Search Engine Optimisation!